tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13072904867021783322019-02-22T01:30:46.905-05:00PENCIL TIPS WRITING WORKSHOPPencil Tips Writing Workshop Strategies from Children's Authors and IllustratorsJacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.comBlogger382125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-82518925906973656702019-02-11T17:00:00.000-05:002019-02-11T17:00:00.643-05:00Read Africa<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya">by Karen Leggett Abouraya</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">How often do you make a list for the grocery store and then leave the list at home and have to remember what you wrote down?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That is Fatima’s dilemma in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grandma’s List, </i>a Children’s Africana Book Award winner by Portia Dery, illustrated by Toby Newsome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xp_N2qLzbXI/XFIkAzH19II/AAAAAAAACnk/9nxxJAdpfkUSx4orV64bANMfWMSkPR9bACLcBGAs/s1600/Grandma%2527s%2BList.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="197" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xp_N2qLzbXI/XFIkAzH19II/AAAAAAAACnk/9nxxJAdpfkUSx4orV64bANMfWMSkPR9bACLcBGAs/s200/Grandma%2527s%2BList.jpeg" width="153" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Calling <i>Grandma’s List</i> an excellent read-aloud book, Africa Access Review says the illustrations “show a neighborhood in Ghana that is very typical of many African towns with shops, gardens, small livestock, and many people outside working and playing. Children not familiar with West Africa can learn about palm nut soup, groundnuts (peanuts) and Bissap drink.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KvRaSeuy5wE/XFIkW1QHh_I/AAAAAAAACns/SVFI3HqKUu8DcXwgHeGwC6NZJhtDsLHSQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-01-30%2Bat%2B7.27.51%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="760" height="178" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KvRaSeuy5wE/XFIkW1QHh_I/AAAAAAAACns/SVFI3HqKUu8DcXwgHeGwC6NZJhtDsLHSQCEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-01-30%2Bat%2B7.27.51%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Africa Access highlights the best books about Africa especially during its February Read Africa initiative but throughout the year as well. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Fatima has convinced her grandmother she can help with the chores on Grandma’s list of errands – but she loses the list and has to remember all the details, mixing up just about everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Contrary to expectations, Fatima’s family is very forgiving and she concludes that being a child isn’t so bad after all.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">This is an excellent book for children to study the illustrations:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->How does the dinner table look the same as yours? Different?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->What about the village scene – what looks familiar? Can you draw a picture of your neighborhood on a Saturday morning?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Have children write their own list of grocery items or household tasks and imagine they lost the list. Ask them to write a paragraph about how they could help themselves remember items without that list. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Encourage children to consider the importance of details. Find out about cornflour – the kind Fatima mistakenly purchased – and write a paragraph about how it is used differently from wheat flour. Try to find a Ghanaian recipe using cornflour (usually called cornstarch in the United States).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Fatima doesn’t like her nickname “Fati.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Do you have a nickname you like – or don’t like? Write about your nickname – or a nickname you would <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like </i>to have.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rtuC1QqROOE/XFIlKLoJSnI/AAAAAAAACn4/ZH8xCVwaMKohlmLSnWBg7ZkEUkgSxanQQCLcBGAs/s1600/Image%2B1-30-19%2Bat%2B7.25%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="276" height="179" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rtuC1QqROOE/XFIlKLoJSnI/AAAAAAAACn4/ZH8xCVwaMKohlmLSnWBg7ZkEUkgSxanQQCLcBGAs/s200/Image%2B1-30-19%2Bat%2B7.25%2BAM.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .25in;">There are more classroom ideas in the <a href="http://africaaccessreview.org/2018/04/grandmas-list/">Africa Access Review of </a><i><a href="http://africaaccessreview.org/2018/04/grandmas-list/">Grandma’s List</a></i>&nbsp;as well as recommended picture books (Anansi Reads) and chapter books (Sankofa Reads), book marks and reviews of Children’s Africana Book Award winners.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Children and teachers may add their own comments about the books they read at <a href="http://africaaccessreview.org/">http://africaaccessreview.org/ </a>- which becomes a student writing activity in itself.&nbsp; It is also possible for students to submit videos or posters about the books they read, write a letter to the author or illustrator and even request a visit from a <a href="http://africaaccessreview.org/read-africa/adopt-a-2016-caba-book-2/?utm_source=Read+Africa+Challenge+2019&amp;utm_campaign=Read+Africa+Challenge+2019&amp;utm_medium=email.">Read Africa Teaching Artist.&nbsp;</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">&nbsp;<a href="http://africaaccessreview.org/childrens-africana-book-awards/">The 2018 CABA awards</a>&nbsp; will be celebrated with a reception on April 5 and a family festival April 6 at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-74275347338910734292019-01-28T17:00:00.000-05:002019-01-28T17:00:05.611-05:00An Amazing Classroom Resource!<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">by Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Where can a teacher easily find interesting pieces to share in the classroom? Look no further than <a href="https://www.balloons-lit-journal.com/issue-8.html">Issue 8 of Balloons Lit. Journal. </a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1tZuZfrn-Ts/XEoYd53YtwI/AAAAAAAACnI/DIqgfF-q_mUVXEORGM64Z2YxRQ_AK9yBACLcBGAs/s1600/blj-issue-8_orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="566" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1tZuZfrn-Ts/XEoYd53YtwI/AAAAAAAACnI/DIqgfF-q_mUVXEORGM64Z2YxRQ_AK9yBACLcBGAs/s320/blj-issue-8_orig.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">This magazine for upper elementary and middle school students is an amazing resource of poetry, fiction, and art. What’s more, it includes contributions from all over the world and features student work alongside professional adults. Poems are attractively presented in full page layouts sure to inspire the imagination. I am thrilled that one of my poems,&nbsp; “Egret” appears on page 41.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VwUxhimjJnM/XEoYkVsEfaI/AAAAAAAACnM/ydDlYJP2zkg8mrVwwyWB2j7o-qS6B12XgCLcBGAs/s1600/Egretblj_issue_8%2B41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1228" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VwUxhimjJnM/XEoYkVsEfaI/AAAAAAAACnM/ydDlYJP2zkg8mrVwwyWB2j7o-qS6B12XgCLcBGAs/s320/Egretblj_issue_8%2B41.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I wrote “Egret” while I was out on a brisk walk near a body of water and this beautifully immobile creature stopped me in my tracks. Ask your students to describe an animal or plant so enchanting they couldn’t help but pause for a moment to gaze. Better yet, take your students outside and ask them to stand silently for five minutes, watching the natural world. What did they see, hear, smell? How did they feel? Can they make an effort to pay attention to the grass, the trees, the clouds, the insects, and everything else which flutters unnoticed when we hurry too much? Mindfulness can enrich one’s life as well as one’s writing. &nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Listening to an author read their own work can be a meaningful experience for students. <a href="https://www.balloons-lit-journal.com/issue-8.html">Balloons Lit. Journal</a> also offers audio clips on selected pieces. Scroll down the page where Issue 8 appears and you will see an audio section and an opportunity to hear me read my poem, “Egret” as well as three other poets in this issue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I highly recommend sharing 14 year old Braxton Schieler’s voice reading his work, “Someday I’ll Be—An Autobiography.” Braxton writes about his life from the age of three till an imagined old age, describing emotional transitions with clarity and insight. Hearing a student read his own personal narrative aloud should jump start many a reluctant pen in your classroom.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Other pieces in <a href="https://www.balloons-lit-journal.com/issue-8.html">Balloons Lit. Issue 8,</a> such as the poems, “I Think My Teacher is a Witch” and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>“Pillow Problems” could be great models for humorous writing.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Finally the artwork in <a href="https://www.balloons-lit-journal.com/issue-8.html">Balloons Lit. Issue 8</a> is stunning. Available in PDF form on the website, images could be projected to present the ekphrastic challenge of providing a written response to and/or description of artwork. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Don’t miss this amazing resource for the classroom! <a href="https://www.balloons-lit-journal.com/issue-8.html">Check out Issue 8 of Balloons Lit. Journal today!</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">www.jacquelinejules.com</a><o:p></o:p></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-1772723922217032182019-01-14T17:00:00.000-05:002019-01-16T14:50:29.367-05:00Capturing Black and White America<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya">by Karen Leggett Abouraya</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">“The youngest of fifteen, Parks arrives stillborn<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">And is nearly left for dead until a dip<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">In ice water shocks his tiny heart to beat.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The baby is named for the man who saved his life, Dr. Gordon.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eUKalXiFlhk/XDaquObUSSI/AAAAAAAACmY/UXB1H0GW1OsAR9oaTezAsCZ6ebDE4E-mACLcBGAs/s1600/gordonparks_-jkt-page-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eUKalXiFlhk/XDaquObUSSI/AAAAAAAACmY/UXB1H0GW1OsAR9oaTezAsCZ6ebDE4E-mACLcBGAs/s320/gordonparks_-jkt-page-001.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Gordon Parks would grow up to become a professional photographer, cataloging American life on film for the Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information, Standard Oil, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ebony, Vogue, Fortune</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">His early work (1940-50) is the focus of <a href="https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2018/gordon-parks-the-new-tide-1940-1950.html">an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.</a>&nbsp;from November 4, 2018 until&nbsp;February 18, 2019.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>He is also the subject of Carole Boston Weatherford’s biography, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America.</i> <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">For Gordon Parks, photography was the tool he used to expose “the unfairness of segregation,” and the African American struggle against racism. “He not only documented but also served as an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nz7yBacEJv0/XDaploZ0uYI/AAAAAAAACmM/XUw_44g9Jio2YkJ8u3Bo4GOgH8rikOR8QCLcBGAs/s1600/AmericanGothic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="734" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nz7yBacEJv0/XDaploZ0uYI/AAAAAAAACmM/XUw_44g9Jio2YkJ8u3Bo4GOgH8rikOR8QCLcBGAs/s320/AmericanGothic.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Parks photographs often featured everyday Americans in their daily lives, including cleaning woman Ella Watson – a photo that became known as American Gothic. “In one iconic photo,” writes Weatherford, “Parks conveyed both the African American struggle against racism and the contradiction between segregation and freedom.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">“Standing before <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">the flag of freedom,<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">cleaning lady Ella Watson<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">holds the tools of her trade<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">and the hopes of her grandchildren.”&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Ella Watson lived in Washington, D.C. in the 1940s. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->What do you think she hoped for her grandchildren? For students whose grandparents are living, have them find out their hopes for their grandchildren. Write about it or share those hopes with the class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Students can also imagine what they might hope for their own children. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Ask students to write about three things in their own daily lives that they would photograph – and why they selected these people, events or places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Perhaps a few single use cameras could be purchased to enable students to photograph a story about their school that could be published online, in the school newspaper or in a local community newspaper. (This would be an opportunity for students to learn about <a href="https://eforms.com/release/photo/">obtaining the rights &nbsp;to print photographs </a>of other people.)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Parks was not only a photographer. He wrote a novel, directed a film and wrote poetry and music as well. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->If you wanted to change people’s minds about an issue in society, what do you think would be the best medium and why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gordon Parks </i>is one of many famous Americans profiled by <a href="https://cbweatherford.com/">Carole Boston Weatherford</a>. She is the <a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/prior-winners/2019-winner">2019 Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award winner&nbsp;</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>and will speak in Washington at the award celebration on May 11, 2019.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Make plans to come and hear what she has to say – students welcome!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-84746705126244590332019-01-01T21:00:00.000-05:002019-01-02T14:32:08.733-05:00HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR!Guest Post by <a href="http://susanlroth.com/">Susan L. Roth</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Many Americans welcome the new year with parties, fireworks, feasts and champagne at midnight. And what do we do the morning after? We make lists of New Year’s resolutions. Do we keep them? Well, we try.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7JWELLJ3L6Q/XCwRXFCU4HI/AAAAAAAAClg/Je8iijXLcg8N1t8dB7hmLTzaelovVS85gCLcBGAs/s1600/EveryMonthNewYear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="900" height="268" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7JWELLJ3L6Q/XCwRXFCU4HI/AAAAAAAAClg/Je8iijXLcg8N1t8dB7hmLTzaelovVS85gCLcBGAs/s320/EveryMonthNewYear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">New Year’s Day is our once-a-year-day for a clean slate, yet another chance to do better and be better. On New Year’s Day everyone is full of good intentions.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5HecHuletg/XCwTBGu81dI/AAAAAAAACmA/uetSKRqHSkoSBWoAxd_OzTcR3DBtXNOgQCLcBGAs/s1600/NewYork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5HecHuletg/XCwTBGu81dI/AAAAAAAACmA/uetSKRqHSkoSBWoAxd_OzTcR3DBtXNOgQCLcBGAs/s320/NewYork.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Year's Eve in NYC, Illustration Susan L. Roth</td></tr></tbody></table>Diets and exercise usually top the list, but really, lists can go on and on and on: Read more good books, work harder, work longer, be more polite, stop being impatient. No more bad words, go to sleep earlier, get up earlier, hang up clothes instead of dropping them on the floor! Be better! Be nicer! Be more generous! Be more appreciative! Be a better friend! Be a better neighbor! Be tolerant, be understanding, be kind, be GOOD!<br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kn8mCXrn-CM/XCwSCeEiqzI/AAAAAAAAClo/cGFEazyqnKcb2ZqMLxkKiCu9AaYKAB1XwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3e59.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kn8mCXrn-CM/XCwSCeEiqzI/AAAAAAAAClo/cGFEazyqnKcb2ZqMLxkKiCu9AaYKAB1XwCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_3e59.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese New Year, Illustration Susan L. Roth</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Once the list is begun, it can quickly fill the page, and usually the list is adhered to, at the beginning, anyway. But what if we were given a plethora of second chances for celebrations as well as for second chances to improve ourselves?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><i>Every Month is a New Year</i>, (Lee and Low, 2017) a book of poems by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by me, is a book full of Happy New Year celebrations from all over the world. I learned so much from making the pictures for this book:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>there are no two even similar looking. And as for resolutions, every page turn affords a fresh start.</span><br /><br /><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Mi1nYIUe8M/XCwSqkdhrWI/AAAAAAAACl4/MWj78nLA1vormYtK27dl66XOi7duJ5ojgCLcBGAs/s1600/RothIslam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="640" height="261" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Mi1nYIUe8M/XCwSqkdhrWI/AAAAAAAACl4/MWj78nLA1vormYtK27dl66XOi7duJ5ojgCLcBGAs/s320/RothIslam.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muslim New Year, Illustration Susan L. Roth</td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Herewith I am presenting you with another big list full of related activities for students, at least enough for an entire happy new year.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">1-Ask students to write a short piece about the new year celebrations that they enjoy in their own families.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">2-Suggest that they create an accompanying illustration. My favorite medium is collage, but they should choose their own favorite.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">3-For the most energized, curious and adventurous students: let them try to find other new year celebrations not mentioned in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Every Month Is A New Year</i> that they can write about and illustrate.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">4- Invite your group to make a joint project calendar of happy new year illustrations which could certainly begin in February or March. Pictures would not have to correspond with unusual-to-us month-specific celebrations, but rather, personal ones. If there are more than a calendar year's worth of students in your group, continue the calendar for as many months as there are students. The finished product could be presented as a big wall of illustrations as well as a calendar, designed to fill a bulletin board, and/or it could be a consecutive band of illustrations designed to go around the walls of a classroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">5-Encourage each student to start his/her own list of resolutions. Designate one day every month for looking back to see how they did. Invite anyone who managed to keep his/her resolution for that month to give a 30 second speech telling about it. Was it easy? hard? worth the effort? Does the student feel proud and victorious? Take time for applause!&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Do the same for anyone who wishes to tell about failing in the attempt, with applause for the courage it takes to speak about the failure. (This should be handled with humor).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">6-Encourage a designated time, probably monthly, to look into each of the cultures explored in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Every Month Is A New Year</i>. The back matter in the book includes great explanations and resources for each holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>For example: make a dragon; watch wheat grass grow fast daily, right before everyone's very eyes, in a little dish in the classroom; make a kite and fly it; eat green grapes. With permission and supervision, break pots. (Do skip fireworks and firecrackers).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">7-Maybe you could even create a brand new holiday: Happy New Month! Let it include a short monthly LITTLE party, and don't forget the Happy New Month's resolutions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">8-Finally, here are some heavier thoughts to think about, write about, to illustrate.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Encourage everyone, including teachers and librarians, to think about the concept and idea of starting new, starting over. Why is the possibility of one more chance to BE better and to DO better so important? Does hope REALLY spring eternal? And why do we have celebrations anyway? for incentives? for rewards? just because they are fun?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">I hope this food for thought gives you something to ponder all year long.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://susanlroth.com/">http://susanlroth.com/</a><o:p></o:p></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-77927147117717623922018-12-10T17:00:00.000-05:002018-12-10T17:00:06.194-05:00Look at Things from a Different Angle<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Guest Post by <a href="http://www.suefliess.com/">Sue Fliess</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;">We all know the story of Santa Claus, who has his long list of gift requests for all the girls and boys around the world. We know he has a sleigh and his 8 (plus Rudolph) reindeer who guide that sleigh. And we know he uses his magic to deliver all those gifts in one magical night, letting children wake up to delight in them Christmas morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yVEIE7-4IFI/XASJytFjtlI/AAAAAAAAClI/5MqGZs22Kx43KVvARxHXNLihst9wq-nfQCLcBGAs/s1600/MrsClausTakestheReins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="488" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yVEIE7-4IFI/XASJytFjtlI/AAAAAAAAClI/5MqGZs22Kx43KVvARxHXNLihst9wq-nfQCLcBGAs/s320/MrsClausTakestheReins.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">But we really don’t know much about Mrs. Claus. What is she like? Is she meek? Headstrong? Fun? With my new book, <i>Mrs. Claus Takes the Reins</i>, I decided to explore the personality of Mrs. Claus, the woman behind the scenes who always makes sure Santa is ready for his long journey. When Santa gets sick and decides Christmas must be cancelled, I thought Mrs. Claus might be just the kind of woman who could take over in a pinch, and get the job done—with the help of the elves, but really with no magic at all. And does she ever! She uses her smarts and skill and overcomes every obstacle…and even returns to the North Pole ten minutes early.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Rewrite a story from a new point of view! <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Ask your students to choose a favorite book, then rewrite a scene from that book (or a new story altogether, if it’s a picture book), from a different character’s point of view. What if we heard the trickster magician’s side of the story in <i>Frosty the Snowman</i>? Or in Kate DiCamillo’s <i>Because of Winn Dixie</i>, wouldn’t it be fun to know what the dog is thinking? Maybe we hear Peeta’s story from the <i>Hunger Games</i>, or how Hagrid is feeling in a scene from <i>Harry Potter</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Encourage students to do this while they are writing original stories as well, to help develop the secondary characters in their stories. The discoveries may surprise them! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><a href="http://www.suefliess.com/">http://www.suefliess.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-91713860473448822492018-11-26T17:00:00.000-05:002018-11-26T17:00:03.659-05:00Have A Blast With Beep And Bob!<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">guest blog by <a href="http://beepandbob.com/">Jonathan Roth</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Bob is an ordinary kid who finds himself having to go to school in the most terrifying place he can imagine: outer space! Luckily he makes friends with a lost little alien named Beep, and together they face all the usual school challenges (tests, too much homework, bullies) and the not-so-usual (lack of gravity, black holes, giant space spiders). You can read all about their adventures (Bob keeps a journal and Beep draws the pictures) and use the following prompts to create your own!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RTxiX4yIp2I/W-4qZumiDVI/AAAAAAAACkQ/lARiRwrRi1Ua5283jYaoMGdMYOKulKQ5wCLcBGAs/s1600/Beep%2Band%2BBob%2Bbox%2Bset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RTxiX4yIp2I/W-4qZumiDVI/AAAAAAAACkQ/lARiRwrRi1Ua5283jYaoMGdMYOKulKQ5wCLcBGAs/s320/Beep%2Band%2BBob%2Bbox%2Bset.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>Writing Prompts:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In a few words or paragraphs or pages, complete the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I was just accepted to go to school that’s located _____________ miles away, somewhere near ________________________ but I’m super nervous to go there because ___________________________.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Don’t be mad, but I just let an alien into the school and it___________.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“You’re never going to believe this, but we just went on a field trip to _________ and just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse ____________________.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I once traveled to the future for a day and to my great surprise _____________________.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Whatever you do, don’t push the red button because it ___________________!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I just found a special spray that cures me of my biggest fears, which are ______________ but the spray also gives me strange side effects such as ______________.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“My Emergency Space Pack is full of such helpful items as ___________________ but also has some pretty useless things like _______________________.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Oh, no, I forget the password that disables the Self-Destruct Button I just accidentally pushed, but I know it’s one of my twenty favorite things, which are _________________ and _____.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I just read the entire BEEP AND BOB series, which was pretty good, but I have an idea for an even better series which is about ___________________.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XnuCcl5GHWk/W-4qn2_deeI/AAAAAAAACkU/Df0nXqbJAlkdWWz-BxFbuG9Vclmx5gPbACLcBGAs/s1600/Beep%2Bdrawing%2BBob%2Bwriting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XnuCcl5GHWk/W-4qn2_deeI/AAAAAAAACkU/Df0nXqbJAlkdWWz-BxFbuG9Vclmx5gPbACLcBGAs/s320/Beep%2Bdrawing%2BBob%2Bwriting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Illustration Prompts:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Beep is a cute alien, but there are some aliens Bob hasn’t met. So Bob will know who to look out for, please draw:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Squeep, who’s even cuter than Beep<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">and Klob, who’s super scary. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Know any other aliens? Draw them too!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I hope you have fun with your writing and illustrating. The main thing to remember is that you can always, always improve with practice. And being creative can be a blast!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://beepandbob.com/">http://beepandbob.com/</a></span></span></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-47573792604122675282018-11-12T17:00:00.000-05:002018-11-12T17:00:05.333-05:00The School’s on Fire! <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya">by Karen Leggett Abouraya</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">How often do we think of fire drills as a nuisance that interrupts a lesson or a nice break to get everyone outside for a few minutes?&nbsp;Even though the kids at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, had dutifully marched out in fire drills, their school lacked the&nbsp;safety measures that might have saved them in a tragic 1958 fire. Ninety-two children and 3 teachers died in the fire. Although it was not the worst school fire ever, it did lead to dramatic improvements in fire prevention measures in schools.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XU1ocsbFOc0/W-d3uk8lIdI/AAAAAAAACjw/sfZGJ6SeysUPmPA9MF5ufHLnoDduXx3TACLcBGAs/s1600/JonesFire.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="829" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XU1ocsbFOc0/W-d3uk8lIdI/AAAAAAAACjw/sfZGJ6SeysUPmPA9MF5ufHLnoDduXx3TACLcBGAs/s320/JonesFire.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“This can’t be happening,” (remembered thirteen-year-old Michele Barale.) “Schools don’t burn down. Who ever heard of a school burning down?”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://rcjonesbooks.com/">Rebecca C. Jones</a> knew about a school that did indeed burn down in Chicago and wanted to learn the real story behind it. She conducted dramatic interviews with 26 survivors who shared their memories and experiences, classroom by classroom.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The neighbors’ ladders were far too short to reach the second-floor windows, so some kids began jumping to the alley.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In one classroom, a back door to the school’s only fire escape was always kept locked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Sister Geraldita normally kept the key to the back door on a key ring attached to her belt…She had forgotten to bring (her keys) to school that day….10-year old Matty Plovanich watched his teacher. ‘I will never forget the look on her face,” he says. “It was complete panic and anguish.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Jones provides a riveting account of children and teachers responding to a very immediate danger. As the subtitle says, there was bravery, tragedy and determination. There are also opportunities for young writers today to reflect on various reactions to a dangerous situation and how they can prepare themselves to think quickly in an emergency. The very real story of this tragic fire could even open the door to difficult conversations about current dangers in schools and communities.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJO7yV_Mx9I/W-d341IvyZI/AAAAAAAACj0/Xvffvm90lPICEDlQH5AAni1DldFqv8U5wCEwYBhgL/s1600/Fire.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1280" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJO7yV_Mx9I/W-d341IvyZI/AAAAAAAACj0/Xvffvm90lPICEDlQH5AAni1DldFqv8U5wCEwYBhgL/s320/Fire.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><o:p></o:p><br /> <div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">What might you have done in Sister Geraldita’s situation when you did not have keys to open the door to the fire escape?</span></div><br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]-->Teachers tried different approaches to keeping their students calm.&nbsp; What do you think you might do to calm younger children in an emergency in the school, on the school bus or on the playground?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]-->Tragedy affected every child and family connected to Our Lady of the Angels School. What are some examples of bravery and determination?&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;;">o<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]-->What does it mean to be brave?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;;">o<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]-->Do you remember a time when you have been brave?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]-->After classes were back in session, some teachers did not want anyone to talk about the fire ever again. Do you think that was a good idea?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]-->Do you have an escape plan if there is a fire in your home? Describe a conversation at home about what each family member should do during any type of emergency. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]-->Survey the fire prevention measures that exist in your school. Are there things that aren’t working, like some doors and rules at Our Ladies of the Angels? What can you do about something you think is not working as it should?<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p>I</o:p>n December, there will be special programs in Chicago to commemorate the 60<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the fire.&nbsp; A new school was built on the site in 1960 with state-of-the-art sprinklers, smoke detectors, fire doors and fire-resistant stairwells; the school closed permanently in 1999. &nbsp;<a href="http://olafire.com/home.asp?">More information about the fire is available at olafire.com</a>&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><i>School Library Journal</i> concluded that “this moving narrative of one of the most devastating school fires in U.S. history is recommended for middle school nonfiction collections.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-69861960019843051082018-10-28T12:00:00.000-04:002018-10-28T12:00:04.772-04:00CANDY CANDIDATES: Writing Campaign Posters<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">by Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Both Halloween and Election Day are just around the corner. Why not capture the excitement of both events by having a candy election?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Elementary school students should enjoy making posters and writing slogans for their favorite candy treat.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MY7x3gznXsI/W8-25jieJNI/AAAAAAAACjU/eFwivH2Xpa4nsTRZBowU1bZ224mgJwluQCLcBGAs/s1600/CandyCandidate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MY7x3gznXsI/W8-25jieJNI/AAAAAAAACjU/eFwivH2Xpa4nsTRZBowU1bZ224mgJwluQCLcBGAs/s320/CandyCandidate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Since there are so many different kinds of candy, you could have primary elections to select candy candidates. Or you can simplify the process and offer three choices.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">The important thing is to get students thinking about what goes into a campaign and attracting voters. It takes more than artwork, it takes poetry in the form of slogans. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">How do you describe the best qualities of your favorite candy? Can you write 5 to 10 reasons why your candy will improve the life of voters? What promises can your candy make? What can you write that will persuade someone to vote for your candy?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">You could even have a debate between candy candidates. One group could write questions and another group could prepare answers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">A classroom of 25 students is the perfect environment for demonstrating the importance of each ballot. A single vote may win the election or there could be a tie, requiring a runoff or coin toss.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Voting is a civic duty. It is never too early to explain the process and to get your students excited about voting. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">For more teaching resources on government, voting, and civic responsibility, please check out the following:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/election/">Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://lessonplanspage.com/elections.htm/">Hot Chalk Lesson Plans--Elections</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collections/teaching-content/elections/">Scholastic Lesson Plans and Book Resources--Elections</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.teachervision.com/subjects/social-studies-history/us-elections">U.S.Elections – Teacher Vision</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.tolerance.org/moment/voting-elections">Voting and Elections: Resources For A Civil Classroom</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-6863064697578605132018-10-15T17:00:00.000-04:002018-10-15T17:00:05.537-04:00Turning Pages: My Life Story<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya">by Karen Leggett Abouraya</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has shared the story of her life in an <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/207069/my-beloved-world-by-sonia-sotomayor/9780345804839">autobiography for adults</a>, a <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/595404/el-mundo-adorado-de-sonia-sotomayor-by-sonia-sotomayor/9780525564614">story in Spanish</a> for young adults and now as a picture book in both Spanish and English. Both Justice Sotomayor and Lulu Delacre, the illustrator of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Turning Pages: My Life Story</i>/<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pasando Páginas</i> share family traditions and memories from Puerto Rico. Young readers can look carefully at the illustrations to learn about life in Puerto Rico, in New York or at Princeton University and even to see newspapers the Justice’s family might have been reading when she was growing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pDVVDwQo5kU/W7AiNjowj_I/AAAAAAAACio/ZgtCXqDQVJkk7CWXprRetFkoKOGxTxwfgCLcBGAs/s1600/DelacreSonia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="384" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pDVVDwQo5kU/W7AiNjowj_I/AAAAAAAACio/ZgtCXqDQVJkk7CWXprRetFkoKOGxTxwfgCLcBGAs/s320/DelacreSonia.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Justice Sotomayor remembers trips to sunny Puerto Rico when she could eat fresh mangoes and spicy chicken. From Puerto Rico to New York to Washington, D.C., books were always the Justice’s friends.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">She called them her harbor, helping her escape the sadness of her father’s death; her snorkel and flippers, helping her explore life; a time machine inspiring her imagination; her launchpad, blasting her into her dreams. Now, in her life as a lawyer and judge, books are “maps to guide us to justice.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">The life of Justice Sonia Sotomayor is itself a launch pad for writing and discussions among students of any age.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">What kind of books do you like to read and why? Did you have a favorite book when you were very little?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Justice Sotomayor remembers when her Abuelita, her grandmother, would “close her eyes and recite poems written long ago about the tropical land our family had left behind.” Does anyone in your family tell stories or sing songs when everyone gets together? What stories or songs do you remember?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes when she was just seven years old. She imagined she was brave and powerful like the superheroes in comic books so she could give herself daily injections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>What superpower would you like to have? What would you do with that power?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">On the steps of the cover of the book is an opinion written by the Justice. Can you find her name and the title of the opinion?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Justice Sotomayor remembers receiving a set of encyclopedias at her home and&nbsp;</span>learning about myosis, mitosis and molecule (all pictured in the bubbles) from diving into the pages of one volume<span style="color: black; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Is there a set of encyclopedias in your school or neighborhood library? If so, pick any volume, open to any page and read about something you find on that page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>What did you learn?</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yino7-bIr4Y/W7Ai22hi4pI/AAAAAAAACiw/rXXjliy6Tj4RfiQe2mKqQZP3N3f6E9B5wCLcBGAs/s1600/Lulu%2BImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1186" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yino7-bIr4Y/W7Ai22hi4pI/AAAAAAAACiw/rXXjliy6Tj4RfiQe2mKqQZP3N3f6E9B5wCLcBGAs/s320/Lulu%2BImage.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">“Justice means treating people fairly under the law,” writes the Justice. Why is it important to have laws or rules for a country or a school or a classroom? Everyone in the class could write one reason on a 3x5 card; then the cards can be posted in the classroom or hallway for everyone to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">There are lots of family photographs of Sonia Sotomayor on the book’s endpapers – as a child, at special family events, with her colleagues on the Supreme Court. Take photos of each student with a favorite book. Students can write a few sentences or draw a picture to explain why that book is special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The photos can be posted so students learn about new books they might also enjoy reading.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Justice Sotomayor talks about the importance of books from her childhood to her life on the Supreme court: “Books are keys that unlock of wisdom of yesterday and open the door to tomorrow.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;">Note: An exhibit of Lulu Delacre’s illustrations for Sonia Sotomayor’s life story is on display at the </span></i><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu/">ZimmerliArt Museum</a></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Rutgers University, New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph"><br /></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-30898451262478090242018-10-01T17:00:00.000-04:002018-10-03T19:55:12.164-04:00IF YOU HAD SUPER HEARING ...<br /><div class="MsoNormal">by <a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Freddie Ramos, the boy with super-powered purple sneakers, is back with a new adventure in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zapato Power #7: Freddie Ramos Hears It All. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UzphBSh_4gU/W5wO56HPEbI/AAAAAAAACiQ/GXeAYDcE4QoWQEE2uSppbfIZZMU74WvzQCLcBGAs/s1600/FreddieHearsItAll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="710" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UzphBSh_4gU/W5wO56HPEbI/AAAAAAAACiQ/GXeAYDcE4QoWQEE2uSppbfIZZMU74WvzQCLcBGAs/s320/FreddieHearsItAll.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Freddie Ramos Hears It All</i>, Freddie must adjust to the thrill and the challenge of having super hearing in addition to super speed and super bounce. He goes to a space museum with his class and realizes that he can overhear conversations everywhere. Should he help the museum guards find a lost child? Should he help a woman who dropped her bracelet? Freddie has a big heart and a thirst for being a hero. With super hearing he can find many more opportunities to use his super hero powers. He can also find opportunities to eavesdrop. Should he be listening through his friend's door? What is the line between being a snoop and a super hero?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">After reading&nbsp;<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Freddie Ramos Hears It All,&nbsp;</i>students can write about how they would use super hearing and how it might help or complicate their lives.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>Here are some questions to consider.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Would you listen through a closed door?</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Would you share important information you overheard? Or keep it secret?&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Would you be tempted to listen in on others all the time?&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Who would you most like to eavesdrop on? Your parents? Brother or sister? Teacher?</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What would you do if you heard someone crying? Would you run to get involved or respect his/her privacy?</span></div><br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: -.75in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>Story Prompt Ideas: </b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">You’ve overheard a conversation on the playground. Two friends are talking about another student. The information you heard is supposed to be a secret. What will you do? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">You’ve heard your parents’ talking about your brother. The information surprised you. What is it? Will you tell your brother what you know?</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">You’ve overhead your teacher talking about a pop quiz for your class. Do you tell your friends to study? Do you study? What do you do?</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Encourage your students to think of all possibilities. Information obtained through eavesdropping can be happy or sad. And the dilemma of knowing something you were not supposed to know can be very real. Happy Writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">www.jacquelinejules.com <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-10740953428348968372018-09-17T17:00:00.000-04:002018-09-17T17:00:06.762-04:00DELIVERY BEAR, COOKIES, AND CAREERS<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.lauragehl.com/">by Laura Gehl</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Delivery Bear</span></i><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Paco Sordo, is the story of a large bear named Zogby whose lifelong dream is to deliver cookies for the Fluffy Tail Cookies Company—a company staffed entirely by bunnies. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TVwq5N3ArU/W5l7hzUb6KI/AAAAAAAACh4/FVzRHbtoQ_YfJah99PuNTJs_MR7FA-dXACLcBGAs/s1600/DeliveryBear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="1000" height="253" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TVwq5N3ArU/W5l7hzUb6KI/AAAAAAAACh4/FVzRHbtoQ_YfJah99PuNTJs_MR7FA-dXACLcBGAs/s320/DeliveryBear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">After reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delivery Bear</i> out loud, try these writing activities with your students:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">1. Imagine you are in charge of the Fluffy Tail Cookies Company. You get to decide all of the different types of cookies that customers can order. Will you sell classics like chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin? Or creative new recipes like Peanut Butter Potato Chip Delight? Or a mix? Write or draw a list of the cookies you will sell.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">2. Even when he is a small cub, Zogby knows what he wants to do when he grows up. What do YOU want to do when you grow up? What is your dream job? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">3. When all of the customers are scared of Zogby, he is tempted to give up on his dream. But in the end he thinks of a new way to approach the deliveries and succeeds in his own way. Think of a time in your own life when you were tempted to give up. What happened? How did you manage to overcome your frustration? Was there someone who helped you?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">4. When Mrs. Rabbit hears the Fluffy Tail Cookies delivery song and opens the door, she expects to see a small bunny. Instead, she sees a large bear and screams “AAAAAAHHHH!” In this case, Mrs. Rabbit is judging Zogby based on his appearance. Have you ever judged someone based on her/his appearance? Has anyone judged you by your appearance? Do you think Mrs. Rabbit’s reaction is reasonable or unreasonable? If you were a rabbit and opened the door to a bear, what do you think your reaction would be? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.lauragehl.com/">http://www.lauragehl.com/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-49500421151362093332018-09-03T17:00:00.000-04:002018-09-03T17:00:00.902-04:00“The Caterpillars Marvelous Transformation…”<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya">by Karen Leggett Abouraya</a><o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">“Small, silent,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">swelling to<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">roundness,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">I do not yet know<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">what secrets I hold<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">what marvels await me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Joyce Sidman’s poem is written from the point of view of a butterfly egg, the first chapter in </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">The Girl Who Drew Butterflies – How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hL-jy7bNQes/WzqYVD6csAI/AAAAAAAACgc/U5LCLW4xVZkapy2LlBON1NY6yQ76S1D1wCEwYBhgL/s1600/Butterflies%2BSidman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hL-jy7bNQes/WzqYVD6csAI/AAAAAAAACgc/U5LCLW4xVZkapy2LlBON1NY6yQ76S1D1wCEwYBhgL/s320/Butterflies%2BSidman.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Maria was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1647.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Her father ran a publishing shop until he died when Maria was only three years old.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Her mother married an artist who painted flowers and insects, which Maria often collected for him. No one knew at that time how insects grew. Some people thought butterflies flew in from somewhere else; others thought they emerged from dew, dung, dead animals or mud. Maria was fascinated.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">She learned to paint and draw from her stepfather. But she also collected insects in glass jars to watch them grow and change – silk worms and then moths and butterflies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Her interest in art and especially science set her apart from other girls in the 17<sup>th</sup>century. She was different – she had to be careful and clever about how she worked.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">In 1679, at the age of 32, she published a book with a long and fabulous title, typical of the time – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food.</i> She engraved every print in the book herself and hand-painted many of them, like this title page. You can see her name in the branches at the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e_tnduDTRCY/WzqYiXA9HOI/AAAAAAAACgg/FmevTMXAx-Qc27JKK0tB0fYu72OexujTwCLcBGAs/s1600/Maria_Sibylla_Merian_Der_Raupen_wunderbare_Verwandelung_und_sonderbare_Blumennahrung_Band_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="399" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e_tnduDTRCY/WzqYiXA9HOI/AAAAAAAACgg/FmevTMXAx-Qc27JKK0tB0fYu72OexujTwCLcBGAs/s320/Maria_Sibylla_Merian_Der_Raupen_wunderbare_Verwandelung_und_sonderbare_Blumennahrung_Band_1.png" width="243" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First published 1679, digitized by the Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Maria did not have a happy marriage, leaving her husband to live in the Netherlands with her mother and daughters.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">She even moved to Surinam, a South American country with Dutch colonists.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">“She rented a house, cultivated a large garden, and plunged into the work of discovering and breeding caterpillars.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">When she returned to Amsterdam several years later, “Maria’s beautiful, accessible art and text electrified her fellow naturalists. Most of the species she discovered were unknown to Europeans at the time, and her observations were widely quoted and discussed.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Joyce Sidman raised caterpillars herself while she was writing about Merian and also read her books, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation – </i>a primary source for her research. Sidman wrote a short poem for each stage of a butterfly’s life, from egg to approaching death. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">The Girl Who Drew Butterflies </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">is the tale of a young woman who stepped far outside the typical world of 17<sup>th</sup> century girls to become a botanical illustrator and scientist who “saw nature as an ever-transforming web of connections – and changed our view of it forever.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Here are several ideas to let Maria Merian’s work spark creativity in modern-day young people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Take a walk outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Ask students to look carefully at any living thing – plant, insect, bird. Write a short poem describing the plant or animal – or written from the point of view of that plant or animal, like Sidman’s poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Budding artists could instead draw their chosen creature or plant with all the detail of Merian’s illustrations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Maria Merian traveled to the Dutch colony of Surinam, also known as Dutch Guyana, and now spelled Suriname. Where in the world would you want to travel and why? What would you want to see or learn there?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Are you passionate about something that you would like to make your career? It’s ok if you have no great passion yet, but if you do, write about why you would like to spend your life working in that field.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">In her poem about a butterfly in flight, Joyce Sidman mused,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">“How vast <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">the swirling dome<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">of the sky!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">How strong the wings <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">I have grown<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">for myself!!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Encourage young writers and readers to grow strong wings for themselves by writing, drawing and carefully observing the details of their world.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-10134289342933275942018-08-20T17:00:00.001-04:002018-08-20T17:00:08.600-04:00Reader’s Theater for Pluto Demoted Day & Beyond<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><a href="http://jacquelinejules.com/pluto.htm">by Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;">Did you know that August 24<sup>th</sup> is <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/fun/pluto-demoted-day">Pluto Demoted Day? </a>&nbsp;That’s the day the International Astronomical Union voted to downgrade Pluto’s status from the ninth planet in our solar system to belong, instead, to a group of dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8sJs4YFJddA/W1D0YiECoeI/AAAAAAAACg8/9hnxYDWJt6gClLWgNDfi8c51ucZN1GNzQCLcBGAs/s1600/PlutoisPeeved.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="500" height="272" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8sJs4YFJddA/W1D0YiECoeI/AAAAAAAACg8/9hnxYDWJt6gClLWgNDfi8c51ucZN1GNzQCLcBGAs/s320/PlutoisPeeved.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;">In my new book, <i>Pluto is Peeved: An Ex-Planet Searches for Answers</i>, Pluto seeks answers in a museum. After meeting Earth, some wild-and-crazy germs, a friendly dinosaur, and others, Pluto learns that his change in status is not unique in scientific history. Earth was once considered the center of the solar system. The Apatosaurus was originally named Brontosaurus.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;">After reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pluto is Peeved </i>with your class, challenge your students to research and write about scientific breakthroughs such as how Anton van Leeuwenhoek first saw tiny wiggling “animalcules” through a microscope in the 1670’s or how Louis Pasteur proved it was possible to kill germs through a heating process now known as pasteurization. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9n9SPqzc1sQ/W1D2ukYzvFI/AAAAAAAAChY/QOvrfce7JooSEMvdGMZtFFZl9lj2TVyPACLcBGAs/s1600/pluto%2Bsample2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="711" height="272" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9n9SPqzc1sQ/W1D2ukYzvFI/AAAAAAAAChY/QOvrfce7JooSEMvdGMZtFFZl9lj2TVyPACLcBGAs/s320/pluto%2Bsample2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustrations by Dave Roman</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;">Scientists make observations and question everything—even ideas people have long considered to be facts. They spend years researching and collecting data. When new evidence is discovered, scientists present discoveries to the world, expanding our knowledge of the universe. Other topics your students can investigate include: The Fate of the Dinosaurs, The Center of the Solar System, The Discovery of Radium, Penicillin, or DNA, Plate Tectonics, and the New Horizons Space Mission. For a list of 11 Innovations That Changed the World see this list from <a href="http://www.history.com/news/11-innovations-that-changed-history">The History Channel.</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When research is completed, challenge your students to write a Reader’s Theater script in which one scientist describes his/her discovery to another person. Will the discovery be received with excitement or skepticism or confusion? Dialogues your students write could include spirited discussions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Reader’s Theater is a fun, interactive tool for developing oral reading skills and reading fluency. When your students have the opportunity to write their own scripts, it doubles the fun. In addition, a Reader’s Theater based on research can integrate science into the language arts curriculum. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-599QgqKwkD4/W1D1_wLRrlI/AAAAAAAAChI/-Jb8Tsf2qH0WBoJo81mqA53-DD6YZAEDwCEwYBhgL/s1600/SmallReaderImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-599QgqKwkD4/W1D1_wLRrlI/AAAAAAAAChI/-Jb8Tsf2qH0WBoJo81mqA53-DD6YZAEDwCEwYBhgL/s320/SmallReaderImage.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For an example of a science-based Reader’s Theater, please visit my website and <a href="http://jacquelinejules.com/pluto_is_peeved_reader's_theater.pdf">download a Reader’s Theater for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pluto is Peeved</i>. </a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Enjoy!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://jacquelinejules.com/pluto.htm">Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-12450712443482568772018-08-06T17:00:00.000-04:002018-08-06T17:00:00.616-04:00One Voice Can Change the World<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Guest Post by <a href="http://www.kathyerskine.com/">Kathryn Erskine</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s true ... with incredible determination and persistence, one person really can change the world. I was introduced to the voice of Miriam Makeba, dubbed Mama Africa, during the oppressive apartheid regime. Despite danger to herself and family, she told the world about the atrocities in her country. Singing was her art and talent, and using that, she forced the world to look at what was happening in South Africa, and to do something about it. We may not have her gifts, but we can all be brave. We can all speak out and change the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6yV6QvUzGSQ/WzGKuuXQJsI/AAAAAAAACgQ/6vMDd36MZDAYIu0GcHJ6OY5QwkG_LjqpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Mama%2BAfrica%2Bfor%2BCM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1148" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6yV6QvUzGSQ/WzGKuuXQJsI/AAAAAAAACgQ/6vMDd36MZDAYIu0GcHJ6OY5QwkG_LjqpQCLcBGAs/s320/Mama%2BAfrica%2Bfor%2BCM.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Young people often feel unheard. As a child, especially a girl in the 1960’s and ‘70’s, I took heart that a woman could speak out and that people would actually listen. I loved that she forced everyone to look at, and deal with, what was happening to her people –and not just in South Africa, but in the United States, and anywhere in the world. Her voice gave me hope that I could have a voice, too. I wanted to give that same feeling of empowerment to young readers today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">To that end, here are some writing activities you can use with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mama Africa</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">1. Use Miriam’s story as a jumping off point to learn more about her or one of the other people mentioned in the book, like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. Also, see the timeline and Further Reading sections for more ideas, e.g., Fannie Lou Hamer and John Lewis.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 14pt;">What contributions did these people make? What do you think was most important, and why? If you could ask one of these people a question, what would you ask?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">2. What is an issue you feel strongly about? How would you use your voice to tell the world? In today’s world, unlike Miriam Makeba’s during the mid-twentieth century, what avenues do you have available to get your message out? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">3. Mama Africa can also be used as an introduction to apartheid, and other oppressive regimes, and how such regimes can be called out and, eventually, brought down. What is happening in the world today that is similar to a tyrannical government like South Africa’s under apartheid? What do you think is an effective way to stop that regime?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">And, any of the above activities can be written in the call-and-response style used in the book, either as a song or free verse poem, where the last word of the preceding line is also the first word in the following line. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">An example from the book: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Still, that doesn’t stop Miriam from singing.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Singing always gives her strength.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Mama Africa: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song</span></i><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">, was named a 2018 Best Book for Young Children by CABA, <a href="http://africaaccessreview.org/childrens-africana-book-awards/">Children’s Africana Book Awards.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 14pt;">It was also the 2018 Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award winner.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jW3NZRruWz4/WzGKMX5BG8I/AAAAAAAACgI/DkRtkvaKc6o-5uyptLjL4l_DiV2Kwi3nACLcBGAs/s1600/Facetime-erskine%2Bcopy%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="967" data-original-width="947" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jW3NZRruWz4/WzGKMX5BG8I/AAAAAAAACgI/DkRtkvaKc6o-5uyptLjL4l_DiV2Kwi3nACLcBGAs/s200/Facetime-erskine%2Bcopy%2Bcopy.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Kathryn Erskine is the author of six novels for young people, including National Book Award winner, <i>Mockingbird,</i> Jane Addams Peace Award honor book <i>Seeing Red</i>, and most recently, <i>The Incredible Magic of Being,</i> about a boy with anxiety who believes in the power of the universe to save us. She also recently wrote an award-winning picture book, <i>Mama Africa</i>, a biography of South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Kathryn Erskine draws on her life stories and world events for her writing and is currently working on several more novels and picture books.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 14pt;">&nbsp;Visit her at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kathyerskine.com/">http://www.kathyerskine.com/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-24565423721749616532018-07-23T17:00:00.000-04:002018-07-23T17:00:03.839-04:00Birthdays, Chickens, and Writing Fun!<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.lauragehl.com/">by Laura Gehl</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">I Got A Chicken For My Birthday</span></i><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Sarah Horne, is about a little girl who wants tickets to the amusement park…but receives a chicken instead. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vttLa7xxL0g/WxSPh5UGRaI/AAAAAAAACdw/6x2FKSUtlUEdrgJY6h7B5Z4Vj8TT8e7pwCLcBGAs/s1600/51TMEYBqZhL._SX258_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="260" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vttLa7xxL0g/WxSPh5UGRaI/AAAAAAAACdw/6x2FKSUtlUEdrgJY6h7B5Z4Vj8TT8e7pwCLcBGAs/s1600/51TMEYBqZhL._SX258_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">After you read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Got A Chicken For My Birthday</i>to your students, you can use the story as a writing prompt in the classroom. Here are some suggestions to get kids writing:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">1) In this book, the chicken builds Ana an amusement park in her back yard. If you received a magical engineering chicken for your birthday, what would you want your chicken to build for you? Describe the creation you would wish for.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">2) Ana has a special relationship with her grandmother, Abuela Lola. Think of a member of your family, or a neighbor or family friend, who is special to you. Write about that person and why you feel close to him or her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">3) At first, Ana is disappointed that she received a chicken instead of tickets to the amusement park. Have you ever received a gift that you weren’t expecting or didn’t want? What was it? What did you want instead?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">4) The chicken gives Ana a list of items needed for building the amusement park. The list has both practical items and silly items. Make up your own list of supplies for building an amusement park. What would you include on your list?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.lauragehl.com/">www.lauragehl.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-2352314861077795842018-07-09T17:00:00.000-04:002018-07-09T17:00:10.282-04:00Dressing Up for Special Occasions<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">by <a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">In my new title in the Sofia Martinez series, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sofia’s Party Shoes</i>, Sofia is so excited about her new white shoes that she disobeys Mamá. Instead of keeping her party shoes clean and safe in their box, she wears them to her cousins’ house where they meet an unhappy accident. Sofia must face the consequences of her actions and wear the stained shoes to her friend Liliana’s quinceañera anyway. At first Sofia is grumpy, certain that she can’t have a good time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>But as the party progresses, she learns that fun does not require the perfect outfit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4SJ2NKYmRkA/WuomvpFWmFI/AAAAAAAACco/P3HY4fBvJOoBl7IKZCLWytp-smoqTHIOQCLcBGAs/s1600/SofiaPartyShoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="243" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4SJ2NKYmRkA/WuomvpFWmFI/AAAAAAAACco/P3HY4fBvJOoBl7IKZCLWytp-smoqTHIOQCLcBGAs/s320/SofiaPartyShoes.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sofia’s Party Shoes</i> and ask students to share a time when they got something new to wear for a special occasion. How did they feel? Did the new clothes stay perfect or did something happen? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Describe the special occasion. Was it a quinceañera, a wedding, or a Bar Mitzvah? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Did they look forward to attending? Or were they nervous? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Clothes can be a fun topic for young children to write about, especially dressing up for a special event. Kids might have funny stories about spills, lost ties, torn skirts, or wardrobe malfunctions. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What’s more, everyone has one item of clothing they love more than anything else in their closet. Do you remember when you got those pants or that cap? Does that T-shirt remind you of a special day with a grandparent or parent? How do you feel when you wear it? Do favorite clothes make you feel different? Why or why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Focusing on one special item of clothing will also give your students practice in description. What color is the dress? Can the color be compared to something else? For example, strawberry red or sky blue. Is the dress long or short? Scratchy or smooth? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When it comes to clothes, the possibilities for realistic writing are endless. Happy Writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">www.jacquelinejules.com</a><br /><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-74856143582334544872018-06-25T17:00:00.000-04:002018-06-25T17:00:21.124-04:00Pillows, Dogs, and Writing Fun<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.lauragehl.com/">by Laura Gehl</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">My Pillow Keeps Moving</span></i><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Christopher Weyant, is the story of a lonely man who tries to buy a pillow and accidentally buys a dog—who becomes his new best friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSSs63YG4wE/WxSNnm4rYXI/AAAAAAAACdk/zbg3QIogx0wrovY5yp6BT6523EGSEnlbACLcBGAs/s1600/51Et7R24HuL._SX258_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="260" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSSs63YG4wE/WxSNnm4rYXI/AAAAAAAACdk/zbg3QIogx0wrovY5yp6BT6523EGSEnlbACLcBGAs/s1600/51Et7R24HuL._SX258_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">After you read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Pillow Keeps Moving</i> out loud to your students, you can use the story as a fun writing prompt. Try these suggestions for getting your students writing:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">1) In this story, a man walks into a pillow store and accidentally buys a dog. Write your own story using this formula:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">? walks into a store to buy ? and accidentally buys ?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">Replace the first question mark with a character, the second question mark with an item you might buy in a store, and the third question mark with an animal.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">2) The man in the story starts out with no pets and ends up with two. Do you have a pet? Do you wish you had a pet? What pet would you like to have, and why? You can even write about an imaginary creature you would love to have as a pet, like a unicorn or a dragon!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">3) This book has a lot of pages without text, where the story is told only through pictures. Choose one of those pages and imagine that you need to describe what is happening to someone who cannot see the illustration. Use words to tell that part of the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.lauragehl.com/">www.lauragehl.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-55245524488145782682018-06-11T17:00:00.000-04:002018-06-11T17:00:13.674-04:00Cooperative Learning with Brave Like My Brother<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">by Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">As a teacher, I was thrilled to discover <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brave Like My Brother</i> by Marc Tyler Nobleman. This slim title will make a perfect read-aloud and writing model for the upper elementary classroom. Told entirely in letters, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brave Like My Brother</i> depicts a touching relationship between two brothers writing to each other during World War II. Joe’s letters home to younger brother Charlie share a fascinating account of an American soldier’s life abroad. The portrayal of war is neither too sugar coated nor too frightening for upper elementary students.</span> <span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Charlie’s letters to Joe share his struggles with a bully at home in Cleveland. The book’s large font and 100 page text should make it attractive to reluctant readers.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QFBBn1b8T44/WuoT7tKN5qI/AAAAAAAACcY/yEfO3k9QmFsAg-37HsRMVTz8RSeHFeIOACLcBGAs/s1600/BraveLikeMyBrother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QFBBn1b8T44/WuoT7tKN5qI/AAAAAAAACcY/yEfO3k9QmFsAg-37HsRMVTz8RSeHFeIOACLcBGAs/s320/BraveLikeMyBrother.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Letter writing is a wonderful vehicle for sharing information. After reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brave Like My Brother</i>, students could work in pairs, each one taking on the role of a person separated from a loved one by war or circumstance. The letters could involve research into either a historical era or geographic region. It could be an exciting cooperative project. Here are some suggestions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 1: Write letters to a sister/brother/friend describing your life as you travel to a new country and build a new life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 2: Describe your life at home in response to these letters. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 1: Write letters home to a sister/brother/friend while you are at summer camp or on a vacation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 2: Describe your life back home in response to these letters.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 1: Write letters to a friend during a move to a state across the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 2: Respond to the letters with information on how things are going in your friend’s old city. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 1: Write letters to a parent/sister/brother who is away on business, deployed, or incarcerated.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 2: Respond to the letters, explaining your current life situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 1: Write letters to a grandparent asking what life was like for them and explaining what your life is like.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Student 2: Write letters answering your grandchild’s questions. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">In an age, when most people communicate by email or text rather than speaking on the phone, the ability to express ourselves by means of a letter is more important than ever. A cooperative letter writing exercise will give your students practice in both writing and essential life skills. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">www.jacquelinejules.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-9513859643452119222018-05-21T17:00:00.000-04:002018-05-21T17:00:04.739-04:00Experimenting with Imagination<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">guest post by <a href="http://www.suefliess.com/">Sue Fliess</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The title of my new book <i>Mary Had A Little Lab</i> came to me in a dream—really. So when I visit schools and talk about this book, I tell them that they can dream up any story they want—or any machine they’d like—the only limit is their imagination.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ou9wrEmogyk/WufDUxNGKYI/AAAAAAAACb8/2-GBZc6uH9chIzOdbjWjPUXBoTAav0ITwCLcBGAs/s1600/9780807549827_IPG_NotFinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1183" data-original-width="1500" height="252" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ou9wrEmogyk/WufDUxNGKYI/AAAAAAAACb8/2-GBZc6uH9chIzOdbjWjPUXBoTAav0ITwCLcBGAs/s320/9780807549827_IPG_NotFinal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 14pt;">My book is about Mary, a scientist and inventor, who makes her own dreams come true. She doesn’t have friends, so she decides she needs a pet. But rather than buy one, she makes one! A sheep, of course.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Once she makes a sheep, she is no longer lonely, and it soon allows her to make friends. Then her friends want sheep as well. But her Sheepinator goes haywire and starts making so many sheep that she and her new friends have to solve this new problem. The story has several problems that Mary and her friends must solve before the end. It’s like any experiment—things don’t always go right the first time. It takes many tries. Just as this book did to get it right!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">One fun activity I do with students when I visit schools is to have them line up and recreate the Sheepinator from my book. They each have to choose what function they serve, what simple machine or movement their body must do to perform that function, and what sound it makes. They go in order, until, at last, a sheep pops out in the end—one student getting to be the sheep (I have a costume for this part, but that’s not necessary!). This gets them thinking about machine parts, how things work, and how things must work together. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Another activity is to have students create their own version of a Sheepinator. Draw a schematic on paper, then build it with arts and crafts and explain how it works. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A third, and maybe my favorite, it to ask students “If you could construct a machine to make anything you wanted, what would it be and what would it make?”&nbsp; This allows them total freedom. Maybe they want to create an ice-cream-o-scooper, which makes any flavor of ice cream with the push of a button. Or a Cash-o-matic that spits out money. They can draw it, explain how it works, and even create a 3-D model of it, if they like. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Let the inventions begin!&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mjeEhS77BeM/WufC9INZvHI/AAAAAAAACb0/4_82CCrhpPIOCS7L_9FQJU_DfiQdOvivgCLcBGAs/s1600/Sue_headshot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mjeEhS77BeM/WufC9INZvHI/AAAAAAAACb0/4_82CCrhpPIOCS7L_9FQJU_DfiQdOvivgCLcBGAs/s200/Sue_headshot.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.suefliess.com/">Sue Fliess</a>("fleece") is the author of numerous children's books including <i>A Fairy Friend, Calling All Cars, Robots, Robots Everywhere!, The Hug Book, Tons of Trucks </i>and<i> Shoes for Me!&nbsp; </i>Sue lives with her family and a Labrador named Charlie in Northern Virginia. For more information about Sue and to check out her books and song parodies, go to <a href="http://www.suefliess.com/">http://www.suefliess.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-77704599353861686822018-05-07T17:00:00.000-04:002018-05-07T17:00:15.662-04:00“Thinking with her hands”<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya">by Karen Leggett Abouraya</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Maya Lin has built monuments in clay, granite, water, earth, glass and wood. Her most famous monument is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, an opportunity she won in a contest she entered anonymously as a college student.&nbsp; It was controversial from the beginning.&nbsp; Critics wondered why a person of Asian heritage should design a monument to veterans of a war fought against Asians. Others criticized what appeared to them as a black scar in the earth. But now this monument in Washington, D.C., is visited by more than three million people every year.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RrKQwT5Br-w/WiNOKm_2jKI/AAAAAAAACWE/gTpnvf_7ItYpkKVsW93RTZzmqDLUoQDewCEwYBhgL/s1600/tive%2Bcommons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="511" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RrKQwT5Br-w/WiNOKm_2jKI/AAAAAAAACWE/gTpnvf_7ItYpkKVsW93RTZzmqDLUoQDewCEwYBhgL/s320/tive%2Bcommons.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vietnam Veterans Memorial/Creative Commons photo</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Susan Goldman Rubin’s new and highly acclaimed biography of Maya Lin – </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">Maya Lin: thinking with her </i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">hands - includes photos of the many more monuments and sculptures she has designed, along with her struggles about whether and how to design each one.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E4LL9lnNHFM/WiNNxoUAZEI/AAAAAAAACWE/LhdTaOS4sEsKhPa5bKi_blExpHBXREVYgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Maya%2BLin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1272" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E4LL9lnNHFM/WiNNxoUAZEI/AAAAAAAACWE/LhdTaOS4sEsKhPa5bKi_blExpHBXREVYgCEwYBhgL/s320/Maya%2BLin.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“I try to understand the ‘why’ of a project before it’s a ‘what.’” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">She used the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, to “give people an understanding of what that time period was about.”&nbsp; She literally sculpted the earth to create a grassy <i>Wave Field</i> at the University of Michigan’s aerospace engineering building. She redesigned an old barn for a retreat center in Tennessee for the Children’s Defense Fund.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Not only is <i>Maya Lin: Thinking with her hands</i> a thought-provoking story of how an artist works, it can spur conversations and writing as well.&nbsp; It could be a perfect way to open a discussion of national and local monuments – including the many that are controversial right now - but you could also have students :&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Write about a monument or statue in your town. What does it mean to you? Why is it important for that statue to be in your town?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Do you think there are other monuments that could be added <i>or</i> removed from your town? Write a persuasive essay explaining your reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">If your school is named for a person, what sort of monument would you create to honor that person? This could be a class project, especially for younger children. (My own children’s elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland, was always known just as “Barnsley.” Turns out it was the first Montgomery County school named for a woman. Lucy V. Barnsley not only taught for 35 years, but also donated books to start the first library in Rockville and started the Retired Teachers Association in the county.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; font-size: 14.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Design a monument to any person or event that is important to you and write an artist’s statement about your monument.&nbsp; Maya Lin’s essay about her Vietnam Veterans Memorial competition entry is included in the book, <a href="http://www.vvmf.org/maya-lin-design-submission.">but may also be read here.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Maya Lin expects her last commission to be a project called “What is Missing?” at the <a href="http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/06/maya-lins-sound-ring-unveiled-lab-ornithology">Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York</a>. This ecological history of the planet invites scientists, conservationists and everyone to find ways to “learn enough from the past to rethink a different and better future.” And that can spark many many more writing ideas. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya">https://childrensbookguild.org/index.php/karen-leggett-abouraya</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-70130301268271859682018-04-22T09:00:00.000-04:002018-04-22T09:00:05.205-04:00Taking Care of the Earth<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">guest post by <a href="http://www.madelynrosenberg.com/">Madelyn Rosenberg</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Both Earth Day and National Poetry Month fall during April, so it’s a good time to introduce you to <i>Take Care</i>, a rhyming book about taking care of the earth and each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AvE7VzdMG2A/Ws1LH6JwWBI/AAAAAAAACa0/GWYR7dAiwB81OlwMdubgY4QEX_oiqg35ACLcBGAs/s1600/takecare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="512" height="314" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AvE7VzdMG2A/Ws1LH6JwWBI/AAAAAAAACa0/GWYR7dAiwB81OlwMdubgY4QEX_oiqg35ACLcBGAs/s320/takecare.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">I wrote <i>Take Care</i> after watching a series of gut-wrenching events unfold in the news. This particular series of events culminated in the nightclub shooting in Orlando. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How can we keep doing this to each other?</i>I thought – and have thought, again, many times since. I have similar thoughts when I see people abusing the planet – when someone throws a cigarette butt out a car window or when <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/whale-found-dead-spain-29-kilos-plastic-stomach">they find a whale on a beach in Spain with his stomachfull of plastic</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">I react with rage. And sadness. And I try to reassure myself that we can learn to take care of each other and the planet and make things better. Poetry, whether we’re writing it or reading it, can be burn or balm. My book is meant to be a balm, though it’s fueled by burn. It begins:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Take care of the world, of the mountains and trees<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Tend to the world, all the bumbles and bees<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Color the world, with greens and with blues<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Heal up the world with the words that you choose<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kK9XWaf_o_U/Ws1MEnQggwI/AAAAAAAACbE/MqLSemTkhAkIbVvL7TYgYTt_upTOeBYBQCLcBGAs/s1600/morning%2Bwalk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1600" height="188" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kK9XWaf_o_U/Ws1MEnQggwI/AAAAAAAACbE/MqLSemTkhAkIbVvL7TYgYTt_upTOeBYBQCLcBGAs/s320/morning%2Bwalk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Following are a few related prompts:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Emotion poems<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">What makes you angry? What makes you sad? What makes you happy and what makes you heal? All poems convey emotion, and for this writing prompt, we’re going to come at it full throttle. The lesson I try to always teach my kids when it comes to writing is that specifics are important. So urge your class, when they’re writing about a particular emotion, to think really hard about the things that make them feel the way they do. Does their emotion have a color? A temperature? A season? Is it tied to a specific event, like a fight with a friend or the loss of a stuffed animal? (Was anyone else riveted by the search for the rabbit lost on the London Underground?) There are no real rules for this one, but for students who thrive with rules, you can tell them the poem has to be the same number of lines as letters in the type of emotion they’re feeling – or a multiple of that if it’s a short one. Challenge: Can you convey the emotion without mentioning it by name?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YDN1MJYsmJU/Ws1L0Bf61WI/AAAAAAAACa8/Cn42gZ2yDYk0VBVrjEI6P-agHsZx7A5MgCLcBGAs/s1600/dandelion.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1353" data-original-width="1600" height="168" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YDN1MJYsmJU/Ws1L0Bf61WI/AAAAAAAACa8/Cn42gZ2yDYk0VBVrjEI6P-agHsZx7A5MgCLcBGAs/s200/dandelion.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">A letter to the world</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Have the class write a letter to the planet. Maybe it’s an apology note. Maybe it’s a thank you note for a dandelion or a dimpled strawberry or the color green. Again, it’s always great when you can get kids to focus on something specific. Want to get them in the right mood? ? Consider a nature walk around the school for inspiration. Prose or poetry for this one, your pick.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">A take-care tree<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">A tree branch (a fallen one, please =)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">A hole punch<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">String or yarn<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“Leaves” cut from recycled paper. It’s fine if there is printing on one side, as long as the other side is blank. Multiple colors help.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">A flower pot<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Rocks or newspapers<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8KnizBD8hc8/Ws1MK3rQptI/AAAAAAAACbI/yz8b0IzwT2sVY-ZUPul4m3GWwDNSWEaZACLcBGAs/s1600/treeleaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8KnizBD8hc8/Ws1MK3rQptI/AAAAAAAACbI/yz8b0IzwT2sVY-ZUPul4m3GWwDNSWEaZACLcBGAs/s320/treeleaf.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Place the branch in the flowerpot and use rocks or wadded up newspapers to hold it in place. Have students write their ideas for taking care of the world on the paper leaves. Punch a hole in each leaf and attach it to your branch with the string. Use as a reminder and a classroom decoration for Earth Day, Arbor Day, Tu B’shevat or spring.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">ADAPT IT: If your students do the letters-to-the-world prompt, excerpts on tree leaves also make a nice classroom display. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">BIO: As a journalist, Madelyn Rosenberg spent many years writing about colorful, real-life characters. Now she makes up characters of her own. The author of award-winning books for young people, she lives with her family in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit her web site at <a href="http://madelynrosenberg.com/">madelynrosenberg.com</a> or follow her on twitter at @madrosenberg. And if you try this exercise in your classroom, she’d love to see the results!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-52321014091224128862018-04-09T17:00:00.000-04:002018-04-09T17:00:21.420-04:00HIC! HIC! Writing about the Hiccups<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">by Jacqueline Jules</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Hiccups are funny! They happen to everyone! An experience everyone can relate to makes a great writing prompt for a personal narrative. It can also give your students an opportunity to write humor since hiccups often create a funny situation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0e_M9AElTr8/WlUdYOdl8lI/AAAAAAAACXA/YHeHA9xv4xgfW2Weq_w-qzXFiGkvGg7bgCLcBGAs/s1600/HectorHiccups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="243" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0e_M9AElTr8/WlUdYOdl8lI/AAAAAAAACXA/YHeHA9xv4xgfW2Weq_w-qzXFiGkvGg7bgCLcBGAs/s320/HectorHiccups.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In my new book, </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">Hector’s Hiccups</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, Sofia and her cousin, Hector plan to attend a movie with Abuela. They are all ready to go when they realize Hector has the hiccups. Abuela tries to cure Hector with a lemon and other remedies. Sofia tries to help by holding her breath with Hector. HIC! HIC! Now Sofia has the hiccups, too. Abuela suggests a change of plans and soon they are all dancing in the kitchen. Who says the hiccups can’t be fun?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">After reading <i>Hector’s Hiccups</i> to your class, ask your students to describe a day when they experienced the hiccups. Ask them to consider the following questions to expand their narrative. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Describe the time of day and what you were doing when the hiccups started.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Did you change your plans or keep on with whatever you were doing? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Did you get the hiccups in a place where you were supposed to be quiet?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">How long did your hiccups last?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Were you embarrassed? Frustrated? Or did you laugh? &nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Did others try to help you?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What is your favorite cure for hiccups?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">8.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Did you learn something from the experience?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Happy Writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jacquelinejules.com/">www.jacquelinejules.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-45401065419015672542018-03-27T17:00:00.000-04:002018-03-27T20:18:00.373-04:00Young People Making a Difference<br /><div class="MsoNormal">by Karen Leggett Abouraya<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/">Children’s Book Guild 2018 Nonfiction Award Winner</a> Phillip Hoose has always been intrigued by young people who make a difference in their world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They are the subject of most of his books, especially after Sarah Rosen - a teenager in South Bend, Indiana - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>asked him, “We’re not taught about young people who have made a difference. Studying history almost makes you feel like you’re not a real person.” Hoose decided he would be the author to find and share the stories of real young people making a difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cGT21dt1mf4/WqCU92vMKQI/AAAAAAAACYo/EgqrTs90OCIn8O5KTF6aj75Qb4oKChiPACLcBGAs/s1600/Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="1600" height="116" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cGT21dt1mf4/WqCU92vMKQI/AAAAAAAACYo/EgqrTs90OCIn8O5KTF6aj75Qb4oKChiPACLcBGAs/s400/Collage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hoose brings young leaders to life, including Sarah Rosen in <i>It’s Our World, Too! </i>along with many more in <i>We Were There, Too! Young People in U.S. History.</i> With the meticulous research that characterizes all of his books, Hoose has identified youngsters who sailed with Christopher Columbus right up to those who have been active in the 20<sup>th</sup> and 21<sup>st</sup>centuries: Olaudah Equiano, who was kidnapped into slavery in Benin, Africa, in 1756; teens Billy Bates and Dick King who escaped from the dreaded Andersonville prison during the Civil War; fourteen-year-old Susie King Taylor, a former slave who had learned to read and shared her skills with countless illiterate children and adults; eight-year-old Margaret Davidson who worked in small ways to counter the anti-German sentiments in her Iowa town during World War II.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Ideas for writing and action pop from every page of Hoose’s books.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Write a journal entry for any one of the young people he describes.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;courier new&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Imagine being twelve-year-old Diego Bermúdez.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Why did you leave your home? What work did you do on Christopher Columbus’ ship? What was boring? What was exciting? Diego returned to Spain and did not come to the New World again. Why not? His brother Juan did sail across the ocean and the Bermuda Islands were later named for him. These journals also provide an opportunity to discuss the difference between historical fiction – journals that your students would write – and nonfiction, based on primary sources and verifiable facts. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->What would you like to change in your school or community? How could you begin to make that change? This could be a class discussion and project. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;courier new&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Write a plan to lobby or work for the change you desire.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;courier new&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Hoose’s book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s Our World, Too! </i>includes a “A Handbook for Young Activists” with resources and tools for change. The website <a href="http://youthactivismproject.org/">Youth Activism Project</a> includes many other ideas and examples. The Co-President of the Youth Activism Project, Anika Manzour, helped start <a href="https://schoolgirlsunite.org/">School Girls Unite</a> as a middle school student in Kensington, Maryland.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Phillip Hoose says the young people in his books “deserve attention not simply because they are ‘real people’ close to your age. They are important because through their sweat, bravery, luck, talent, imagination and sacrifice – sometimes of their lives – they helped shape our nation.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Librarians, teachers and students are all invited to hear Phillip Hoose speak at the <a href="https://childrensbookguild.org/">Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award Celebrationon April 7 </a>in Washington, D.C. More details and reservations at <a href="http://www.childrensbookguild.org/">www.childrensbookguild.org</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Acbg7QA1cfQ/WqCVW_wAyjI/AAAAAAAACYw/D28QqNEh9OgH_Q1RzCFaa9WcSczYFwxHACLcBGAs/s1600/FacebookNF2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1213" data-original-width="1016" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Acbg7QA1cfQ/WqCVW_wAyjI/AAAAAAAACYw/D28QqNEh9OgH_Q1RzCFaa9WcSczYFwxHACLcBGAs/s320/FacebookNF2018.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.childrensbookguild.org/"></a><a href="http://www.childrensbookguild.org/">www.childrensbookguild.org</a></div><br /><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-60099974007596897182018-03-18T19:31:00.000-04:002018-03-19T10:27:07.734-04:00Animals As Characters/Subjects: Pushing Against Gender Typing<a href="http://www.maryquattlebaum.com/">by Mary Quattlebaum</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hJjaK_yf6yo/Wq_IXDMGXPI/AAAAAAAACZk/aA8FlKJY7gEz9RaIJn9QAzHtnlDn6IBqACLcBGAs/s1600/30653713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hJjaK_yf6yo/Wq_IXDMGXPI/AAAAAAAACZk/aA8FlKJY7gEz9RaIJn9QAzHtnlDn6IBqACLcBGAs/s320/30653713.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>Starting March 1<sup>st</sup>, we’re celebrating Women’s History Month with 31 days of posts focused on improving the climate for social and gender equality in the children’s and teens’ community/industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>Join in the conversation on Twitter at #kidlitwomen or on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kidlitwomen">https:www//www.facebook.com/kidlitwomen</a> (which includes all the posts this month).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Misty of Chincoteague</i>by Marguerite Henry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Beauty</i> by Anna Sewell. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>I read these novels multiple times as a kid. I adored the fierce mare, Phantom, who cared for her domesticated foal until Misty could live on her own, and then returned to the wild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I cried over the trials of sensitive, observant Black Beauty, the male horse in the 19<sup>th</sup> century bestseller that galvanized the movement for more humane treatment of animals.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lassie Come-Home</i>by Eric Knight. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Incredible Journey</i>by Sheila Burnford. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hundred and One Dalmatians</i> by Dodie Smith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>No matter their sex, the animal characters in these books were, by turns, loyal, cooperative, intelligent, kind, sturdy, afraid, vulnerable, and angry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>They had personality strengths and flaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They fought, strategized, searched for food, and cared for their young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They persisted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They triumphed, in different ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They were the heroes of their stories.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s, I remember very, very few books with strong human girl and gentle human boy characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I didn’t even realize what I was searching for until, as an adult, I examined my favorite books more closely. Yes, I had been a country kid, a lover of animals and the natural world, but even deeper than that, I think I was hoping for depictions in books that better reflected some of the change I was glimpsing in the wider world. The realistic, slightly anthropomorphized critter-characters in these novels pushed boundaries. They brought nuance to, and even subverted the traditional gender-assigned roles and traits of the times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>(Interestingly, for picture books, almost the opposite is true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In her research, children’s author/scholar Jennifer Mann discovered that anthropomorphized animals—especially parents, teachers and other adults--tended to remain gender typed, especially in terms of clothing.)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the blog post that opened this #kidlitwomen discussion, Shannon Hale asked us to deeply consider how we as creators and as teachers/librarians/parents present books to young people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Do we or others unconsciously label or have expectations of a book as being “for girls” or of a particular author as appealing primarily to boys?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>How might we work against this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In their posts, Susan Van Metre, Meg Frazer Blakemore, and Elizabeth Dulemba further explore ideas and possibilities around re-shaping the cultural narrative.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As a writer of nonfiction about/fiction with animal characters, I’ve tried to be alert to my own shortcomings, blind spots, and expectations (with full awareness of how much I still need to learn/unlearn)—and those of the larger society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>And I want to present my work—and that of others—in a way that encourages kids to think more deeply and critically about these issues too.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7gwiFHb6ffk/Wq71qRWJFmI/AAAAAAAACZU/squKAN22iRMbx9RDBWX_i8-ESJhiaTBbQCLcBGAs/s1600/ChBk_Hero%2BDogs_Cvr_FINAL.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="216" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7gwiFHb6ffk/Wq71qRWJFmI/AAAAAAAACZU/squKAN22iRMbx9RDBWX_i8-ESJhiaTBbQCLcBGAs/s1600/ChBk_Hero%2BDogs_Cvr_FINAL.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For a nonfiction chapter book about <i>Hero Dogs</i>, I wanted to broaden the narrative about heroic animals beyond the usual stories about military/law-enforcement dogs and the single act of bravery, so I included true stories about a female detective dog who has found hundreds of lost pets; two female “nurse” dogs at a wildlife sanctuary; and a male Dalmatian who is a fire-safety educator.&nbsp; At schools, I ask kids to think about the term “hero” and what it means to them—and we talk about examples of heroes in history and their lives who may exemplify a range of heroic traits.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mighty Mole and Super Soil</i> depicts the real-life superhero of the animal kingdom, a female mole with super strength, super speed, and a super appetite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Mighty Mole is like Wonder Woman, I tell kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Only she has fur and claws and teeny-tiny eyes (and no bustier, I might add, but that’s the subject for another post).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Many kids love reading and talking about animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Since #kidlit women encourages solution-based discussions, I want to ask:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>What’s your favorite book about animals that works against gender typing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>And/or your favorite book about/with animal characters by a woman?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">My choice: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello, Universe</i> by Erin Entrada Kelly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>So much love for this year’s Newbery Medal winner!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I especially admire the characterizations of the gentle boy and his beloved guinea pig and the fierce Nature-loving deaf girl who helps to rescue them. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><a href="http://www.maryquattlebaum.com/">www.maryquattlebaum.com</a></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br />Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1307290486702178332.post-9769577692682777882018-02-26T17:00:00.000-05:002018-02-26T17:00:19.712-05:00Feeling Grumpy? Writing About Emotions<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Guest Post by <a href="http://www.pippinmathur.com/">Courtney Pippin-Mathur</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Ever wake up in “a crispy, crunchy grumpy” mood? That’s what happens in <i>Maya Was Grumpy</i>, a picture book I wrote and illustrated. Sometimes you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed and that is exactly what happens to Maya. She’s not sure why she’s not into coloring, wearing her favorite clothes or eating her favorite snack but all she wants to go is grump around the house and share her bad mood. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09Fd0sbPvVQ/Win8sqG55UI/AAAAAAAACWQ/v8h6rnwRkoQvuTU0YppDlXriUGkZRoCLACLcBGAs/s1600/maya-cover-small-for-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09Fd0sbPvVQ/Win8sqG55UI/AAAAAAAACWQ/v8h6rnwRkoQvuTU0YppDlXriUGkZRoCLACLcBGAs/s320/maya-cover-small-for-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Luckily, her grandmother is there to help Maya get less grumpy by pointing out all of the wild adventures they are missing out on because of Maya’s grumps. With each wild suggestion, Maya starts to feel a bit better until she is finally ready to go play.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Emotions rule our lives, especially as children. Use the text to discuss different emotions and how they affect a story.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-Why is Maya grumpy? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-Do you ever wake up in a bad mood? Or Sad? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-Write a story based on just one emotion and how it might affect your day. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Maya is a fun read aloud with lots of alliteration and sometimes unusual words to describe Maya’s sour moods. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-Brainstorm fun words to describe moods besides the first ones you think of.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">-Instead of happy, what about jubilant? Instead of sad, what about morose?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-Play with word sounds.&nbsp; Alliteration is a poetic sound device that makes reading fun.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">-Write a &nbsp;first draft of a paragraph about a simple story. On the second draft, write a paragraph using as many types of alliteration or assonance or just fun sounding words as you can think of.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">There are clues in the artwork that sometimes aren’t stated in the story. These little details are what makes a picture book fun! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-What is something that you notice about Maya’s hair and how it reacts to her mood?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">- On the playground spread do you see all of the animals Maya’s grandma mentioned? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">-Do you think she was inspired by the animals in her stories?&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">- What are some real-life things you can change or exaggerate to make a fun story?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">*Bonus- <a href="http://www.pippinmathur.com/blog/books/activities-and-games/">There is an Activity page </a>on my site where you can color a picture of Maya and draw what you think caused her bad mood.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4r1Ad5d6h0/Win8_z6IW9I/AAAAAAAACWU/9_WMQ838I0soW3hElzGKU7qHzQ04YfcdwCLcBGAs/s1600/Courtney-small-author-photo-jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4r1Ad5d6h0/Win8_z6IW9I/AAAAAAAACWU/9_WMQ838I0soW3hElzGKU7qHzQ04YfcdwCLcBGAs/s200/Courtney-small-author-photo-jpg.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">BIO: Courtney Pippin-Mathur was born and raised in East Texas but now lives on the East Coast. She shares her house with a knight, a princess and two dragons. This leads to many exciting adventures with lots of breaks for reading. She has written and illustrated two picture books, <i>Maya Was Grumpy </i>and<i> Dragons Rule, Princesses Drool! </i>Visit her online at </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><a href="http://www.pippinmathur.com/">http://www.pippinmathur.com/</a></span></div>Jacqueline Juleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277283011532681457noreply@blogger.com0